Almost £900,000 has been lost to "cruel" romance fraud in Northern Ireland since April, the PSNI has warned.
Police said between April 2025 and the start of this month more than £866,700 (€994,364) has been taken in around 100 cases of the crime reported to the forces.
The PSNI is using Valentine's Day weekend to highlight a "cruel and very personal fraud".
Chief Inspector Boyd described the amounts taken as "life-changing sums of money".
He said one person reported losing more than £40,000 (€45,892) after meeting a fraudster online.
"The relationship then grew over time," he said, adding "before they were persuaded into transferring money, which happened on multiple occasions, either sending money directly or purchasing gift cards to send codes on to the scammer".
Another reported victim lost around £15,000 (€17,209) over the course of several months.
The PSNI has advised people to protect themselves against romance fraudsters by checking the social media presence of prospective partners to verify the information they are providing.
It was also suggested to use reverse image search tools to check if profile pictures are genuine.
And the police force said to never send money to someone you have not met in person.
